Surgical Boom Inspection and Testing

GasMedix is uniquely qualified to do surgical boom inspections. GasMedix specializes in boom and column repairs and are credentialed as medical gas system verifiers and medical gas system engineers.

In January 2012, the new NFPA 99 2012 was published. Wherein there is a new code for ceiling booms that house flexible medical gas hoses. The requirement is that each boom shall be leak tested and the hoses shall be visually inspected. The frequency of this test will be based on the manufacturers recommendation or the facilities risk assessment but not less than every 18 months.

The reasoning behind this new requirement is that boom installations utilize an interface plate above the ceiling where the flexible hoses connect to the piped gases. When flexible hoses become brittle and leak, those gases go into the interstitial ceiling space. When the gas is oxygen, it becomes an oxygen enriched environment and has on occasion, been associated with ceiling fires. When the leak is nitrous oxide, it can result in elevated levels in the OR that exceed the 25 ppm recommended by NIOSH.

Another requirement of the NFPA 99 2012 is that any person, either on staff or outside service provider, that work on the medical gas system shall hold an ASSE 6040 card or equivalent. Therefore anyone working on ceiling booms will require an ASSE 6040 or equivelant and proper training on boom repair.

GasMedix service technicians are trained on boom repair and hold ASSE 6040 credentials. GasMedix can also provide 6040 training for hospital staff. A GasMedix 6050 instructor can provide a program to train hospital staff on boom repair, review medical gas PMs and provide reporting documentation in a format easily recognizable by CMS, Joint Commission, HFAP and other surveyors.